Comments

raising money for a living has taught me to celebrate generosity whenever and however it exists. why didn't they give to children's hospital? why didn't they give to aids in africa? why not this or that or another thing? because it's their money, and they can give it or not however they like. the dying dog, and, by extension (i'm postulating here, so bear with me) the financial difficulties of their friend or neighbor, moved them to generosity.

would i give like this? no. but i don't give to children's hospital either. i give to make the real world closer to the "perfect" world in which i want to live. that's philanthropy, and when someone else's philanthropy strikes us as stupid or selfish, just shrug and say. "it's their money."

Here's the thing: animals are important. Would I do this? Maybe not. But one thing I do know is that when you give your money to a charity, you have no idea how it is spent...just how much goes to the president of the organization's salary and other admin costs? At least with a situation like this, you can see what your money is going for. And, as no. 2 said, it's their money.

We get it ECB: You don't like dogs. You don't understand people who like dogs. Can you just add a boiler plate to the top of the slog about it (Slog | The Stranger's Blog | Erica Hates Dogs | Seattle's Only Newspaper) and give it a rest? Seriously, it is really boring.

Dog people love their dogs like kid people love their kids. It's not really so strange.

Also, it takes a real meanness of spirit to find fault in other's generosity. My suggestion, to those who think the money would have been better spent elsewhere, is that perhaps this should spur them to make their own donations.

One of the reasons why people will put out money for animals is the same reason why people put out money for kids when they won't do it for adults. It's because they are dependent. They can't make solid financial decisions, they can't raise their own money or work more... Frankly, it just makes me happy that people care about anything at all. =)

If you view the giving of funds to help the dog not as charity, but as a selfish act, done simply because the people involved get a good feeling out of helping a dog, then there's actually nothing more ridiculous about it than most other goods one might spend it on. I could just as easily look at any purchase you make not essential to your own survival and say: Why didn't you put that towards a good charitable cause instead, you selfish prick?

#2: I'm with you. Who cares if it was for a dog? Dogs provide a higher quality of life for some people. It's nice that they gave money.

I can't judge which things are more important (schools or parks? hospitals or theaters? little kids or the elderly? disabled or emerging athletes? Rock music or opera?) It's really hard to rank these things. In the end, the market decides. Yes, I wish people would put people before pets, but whatever.

As someone who doesn't like dogs, I sympathize with Erica's reaction. To a large extent, animals are a commodity in our society, and it seems foolish and wasteful to spend that much money on one.

On the other, it's not like there's a finite pool of charity that this is drawing from. People draw from their disposable income to give based on what tugs at their heartstrings.

There's no such thing as a perfect charity. All of them have administrative costs; in addition, the most important causes (e.g. Darfur) aren't necessarily soluble with any amount of money. They require, above all, good local governance and effective diplomacy. No amount of money raised here is going to put sensible people in charge in Zimbabwe, for instance.

@24 - How is it necessarily "wasteful" to spend money on a dog? People spent money on this dog because it made them happy. If you are like 99% of people in the developed world, you spend your money on equally "wasteful" things every day to make yourself happier. What if someone was following you around all day, harrumphing about how you could've lived on home-cooked rice and beans instead of going to that restaurant and spending far more for your own convenience, since you could have given the money you saved to charity?

The amount of money Western Europeans spend on pet food would solve (human) world hunger.

While those kinds of statistics usually annoy me (Westerners waste a lot more money on even more worthless crap), what justification is there to donate money in this case? If the dog owner is elderly, living off Social Security, and has no other companion, sure. If the dog owner is (likely) middle class, hopefully has a life, and can ultimately pay off the debt, uh, no way.

This annoys me almost as much as bloggers who beg for donations for personal shit.

I fail to see why primates with overdeveloped cerebral cortexes are necessarily more important than other species. Dogs don't contribute to global warming. Ferrets don't engage in global warfare. Cats didn't invent atomic bombs. And only one species is overbreeding the planet to the point of eliminating all the others.

You want to talk selfish? There is no more selfish thing any of us can do than insisting on reproducing. But you know what? That isn't any of my fucking business, any more than what other people do or don't do with their money is any of my fucking business.

Uh, Dianna, you CAN, in fact, find out how much a charity that solicits donations spends on administration, by asking them. They're required by law to print that information, and a whole lot of other stuff, in their annual report, and they're required by law to send you one if you ask for it.

You can also ask the Washington Secretary of State, and he'll tell you. It's even on their website. Non-profits are not mysterious black holes.

What a cold and insensitive outlook on life you must have Erica. For some people their pets are their family - I'm a single guy living alone, and my dog Skype is like a child to me. I would spend any amount of money to keep him healthy (and trust me - I've already spent plenty) much the same as a normal family would do for a child.

While I'll agree that feeding starving children and helping stop the spread of AIDS in Africa are both noble causes so is a simple act of love be it for a family member, friend, or stranger. Helping that dog helped the a family stay whole - do you deny the nobility and kindness of that act?

What a cold and insensitive outlook on life you must have Erica. For some people their pets are their family - I'm a single guy living alone, and my dog Skype is like a child to me. I would spend any amount of money to keep him healthy (and trust me - I've already spent plenty) much the same as a normal family would do for a child.

While I'll agree that feeding starving children and helping stop the spread of AIDS in Africa are both noble causes so is a simple act of love be it for a family member, friend, or stranger. Helping that dog helped the a family stay whole - do you deny the nobility and kindness of that act?

Erika is obviously an insensitive and heartless soul. Erica’s commentary basically boils down to: if you have the money to spend on charity do it on something other than ‘a freaking dog’. This strikes me as a frightfully horrible thing to say. I know for many people their pets are their children. I myself being a single guy regard my dog Skype as a full member of my family and I do everything possible to ensure his good health. I would spend nearly any amount of money to ensure my dogs health and well-being.

While I will be the first to admit there are many great charities out there (the comments on the Slog post point out starving children and slowing the AIDS epidemic in Africa) I can think of none more noble as the pure act of kindness to help a stranger keep their family whole.

Erika is obviously an insensitive and heartless soul. Erica’s commentary basically boils down to: if you have the money to spend on charity do it on something other than ‘a freaking dog’. This strikes me as a frightfully horrible thing to say. I know for many people their pets are their children. I myself being a single guy regard my dog Skype as a full member of my family and I do everything possible to ensure his good health. I would spend nearly any amount of money to ensure my dogs health and well-being. I can understand why Dave would put as much love and effort into ensuring Rhonda's health as any loving parent would for their human children.

While I will be the first to admit there are many great charities out there (the comments on the Slog post point out starving children and slowing the AIDS epidemic in Africa) I can think of none more noble as the pure act of kindness to help a stranger keep their family whole.

Erika is obviously an insensitive and heartless soul. Erica’s commentary basically boils down to: if you have the money to spend on charity do it on something other than ‘a freaking dog’. This strikes me as a frightfully horrible thing to say. I know for many people their pets are their children. I myself being a single guy regard my dog Skype as a full member of my family and I do everything possible to ensure his good health. I would spend nearly any amount of money to ensure my dogs health and well-being. I can understand why Dave would put as much love and effort into ensuring Rhonda's health as any loving parent would for their human children.

While I will be the first to admit there are many great charities out there (the comments on the Slog post point out starving children and slowing the AIDS epidemic in Africa) I can think of none more noble as the pure act of kindness to help a stranger keep their family whole.

"To all the Fremont residents who kicked in $2,300 to help pay for this, I can suggest a few good charities the next time you have a few hundred bucks just lying around."

So... $2300 donated. You're assuming that only 10 people donated? I mean, you're suggesting that you can recommend a better charity when they have a few hundred bucks lying around, so you must be making some assumptions there.

Gimme a fuckin' break. At least this is an animal owner who cares about their pet enough to try to help it. And if others want to help out, why not?

You could stop eating expensive organic foods and put that extra money towards a cause, too. You could say that to anyone about anything. "What?! You bought new shoes?! You could've sent that money to the starving lesbians in China!!!"

If people want to be charitable, you shouldn't bitch about it. They get to decide what cause is most important to them at the time. Get off your fucking high horse

I'm all for it. People on LJ rely on Jameth to raise money for their pets' surgeries all the time. We love our pets because they are family. I would argue that it's part of an evolving sense of personhood that extends compassion to all living things, but most of these people agree that meat tastes good.

I would say the likelihood of this 15k producing positive results (i.e., happiness for the dog owner) is much greater than, say, whatever was spent to keep vegetable Terry Shivo alive for years with no purpose. Or better than the money we spent to prolong seniors lives out of obligation. Or money for elaborate funerals, or how the couple that spent a million on his 54th birthday party. Your outrage at this 15k is disproportionate, like an ax to grind.

I agree with @29 - being human doesn't earn you special status in my eyes. Maybe it does with Erica. Seems like she share's a world view that I've heard fundies express - belief in a "soul" and inferior "beasts"

I guess I shouldn't be surprised, I would say the likelihood of this 15k producing positive results (i.e., happiness) is much greater than, say, whatever was spent to keep vegetable Terry Shivo alive for years for no purpose. Or the money we spent to prolong seniors lives out of obligation. Or money for elaborate funerals, or how the couple that spent a million on his 54th birthday party. Your outrage at this 15k is disproportionate, like an ax to grind.

I agree with @29 - being human doesn't earn you special status in my eyes. Maybe it does with Erica. Seems like she share's a world view that I've heard fundies express - belief in a "soul" and inferior "beasts"

Erika is obviously an insensitive and heartless soul. Erica’s commentary basically boils down to: if you have the money to spend on charity do it on something other than ‘a freaking dog’. This strikes me as a frightfully horrible thing to say. I know for many people their pets are their children. I myself being a single guy regard my dog Skype as a full member of my family and I do everything possible to ensure his good health. I would spend nearly any amount of money to ensure my dogs health and well-being. I can understand why Dave would put as much love and effort into ensuring Rhonda's health as any loving parent would for their human children.

While I will be the first to admit there are many great charities out there (the comments on the Slog post point out starving children and slowing the AIDS epidemic in Africa) I can think of none more noble as the pure act of kindness to help a stranger keep their family whole.

ECB, as you're making a list of better charities than the nice doggy, why don't you call one of them up and see if they think someone with your attitude would be of any use to them appealing for donations. See, I'm just guessing that treating people with contempt for spending their money on things that make them happy, whether it's a dog or a sailboat or a custom built fixie, is not going to make them open their wallets for your far more worthy cause.

I'm pretty sure one of the first rules of raising money is not to start your pitch with a big fuck you to the people whose money you are asking for. I think you're supposed to pretend to respect them or something.

I predict: Karma is gonna get ECB - later in life, she'll be in an accident, and be blinded by some debris. A few weeks later, she'll find herself relying on her worker dog to help her get to the Seattle 'express' bus, where other passengers will impatiently wait for her to find her f'ing seat.

My sister-in-law has spent about $5,000 dollars on her dog's well being and y'know what? There's a time when you just have to give up and put the thing down. I loooove my cats but I've set a price point in my head. When they hit that, they're fucking soup.

@52, the problem with people setting price points for their pets is that people get animals they can't really afford. If somebody adopts a pet with a price point of say $1000, and the pet needs surgery that's $3000 or it will die, the owner is doing that animal a disservice by owning it. I know people who scrape by paycheck to paycheck and own and love their pets. But if their pet gets sick and requires any kind of medical attention, its well being is in serious jeopardy.

As someone whose five and a half year old dog was just diagnosed with cancer this post broke my heart ECB. My dog is my family. She's a dog and I treat her like a dog, but she's my family and she's irreplaceable.

I am a pet owner and love them, but honestly- they aren't people. Some folks treat them like surrogate humans- they aren't.

I wish some people could spend their money and energy on things like homelessness rather than bakeries for overpriced dog biscuits and dog collars. Expensive dog accoutrements are all about the owner, their perception of their animal and their social class. It has nothing to do with the dog. A dog is happy if you feed it anything and play with it. $100 dog "necklaces" are to show off your money and make yourself feel better.

@58 - No one's saying animals are people too; you said that. They are saying that to some of us they are just as important and valuable as people, and if other people want to be generous and help keep our animal friends alive and happy, how is that a problem for you or ECB?

@60 (and up and down these comments) - I just love the assumptions you people are jumping to. Someone donated for expensive surgery for a dog, so they:
1) Definitely have never donated to any other worthy cause, ever.
2) Buy $100 dog collars and fancy baked goods for their dog (where did that even come from?
3) Think animals are people
4) Are hypocrites, because of course they eat meat.

Seriously, what happened to critical thinking, people? Some people love their dogs very much. Some people are generous enough to help them keep their dogs alive. Again, how is that anyone's problem?

Erica, you've given us all a glimpse into how you eat here. If you switched over to ramen, spaghetti and rice and beans you could afford to support some of those "few good charities" you mentioned. And if you already do, you could support them more. You're pretty much stealing from those charities by not eating as spartanly as possible, don't you think?

Last year, my 16 year old cat was diagnosed with late-stage kidney disease and I was given the choice to put him down or spend around 10 to 15 thousand dollars for him to have a kidney transplant.

I put him to sleep not because I couldn't afford the transplant but because getting the surgery would have only prolonged his life by a couple years and the quality of that life wouldn't have been that great for him. It would have been selfish of me to opt for the surgery just so I could keep him around a little longer while his quality of life was diminished.

The choice was still very difficult because my cat was the first living creature that I was responsible for. Putting him to sleep was one of saddest things I've ever had to do because he was my friend and my baby boy.

@64: I think asking people to donate money for something truly insane and harmful, like say, putting another Republican in the White House, takes what I would call unmitigated gall. After all, "four more years" means lots more innocent US troops, Iraqis, and quite possibly Iranians will die.

In comparison, having a party to raise a little over two grand to help a sick dog that many people happen to like takes no gall whatsoever. It's just fun, and if you've got the spare cash, and it makes you happy to donate, then I don't think you owe anybody an explanation.

It's their money. They earned it. They can spend it on anything they want, so long a it doesn't hurt anybody else.

Writing checks to the GOP? That hurts lots of us, so go bitch about that, if you must tell people what do do with their own money.

This all just goes to show the power and depth ($2300 worth) of bonding occurring at local pubs. Even for me, an actual dog lover, $15K in dog surgery would probably lead to a chorus of "thanks for the memories...."